My wife is on a medication for which the BRAND was found to be more therapeutically effective than the generic version. Our health plan supplied the brand, at a higher co-pay than the generic, but we accepted that. Last month, the co-pay for the brand was a certain price, but when I ordered a refill, this time the co-pay was more the three times the previous amount.
When I checked to see if there was an error, I found that the Brand was no longer on the "preferred" list. This means we are economically forced to accept the generic, by any manufacturer chosen by the pharmacy (usually by the lowest cost price currently available), with possibly unreliable therapeutic effect. Who is the guarantor that ALL generics are therapeutically effective? Not the FDA, who recalls drugs long after the "bad" ones are on the market.
Why are MBA's dictating what doctors can order and pharmacists dispense, and how does the consumer know that AWP is the REAL cost basis for the health plan charge? Who is out there to protect our interests?
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